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The first day of each month (and a lot of Mondays) I break down the demographic data of those who “like” comics on Facebook. With about 32 million people this past month, the data represents those with an interest in comics (over 100 terms made up of publishers, generic terms like “comics,” and comic specific terms like “one-shot”). These are not necessarily purchasers or subscribers, they’d be a subset of this group, these are folks who are interested in comics, graphic novels, trade paperbacks, or publishers. That 32 million is the first audience we as a community should be reaching out to to push comics forward. They are the most likely to be interested in comics, and become regular readers and customers.

But, any good marketer knows, that demographic data is just one small portion of who a “customer” is. To truly get the whole picture of who these individuals are, and get even better bang for the buck, you also need to understand their interests and habits.

With the call to “push comics forward,” I’ve dug further into the data showing what else individuals might like, allowing marketers to better target potential comic fans. Last month was the first post of this type looking at the general comic Facebook fandom. For the second one, it felt appropriate to look at just women to kick off “Women’s History Month.”

Why is this important?

Someone’s age, gender, or ethnicity is just a small part of the equation when figuring out who to market to or what to market. A person’s history of purchases in this case, or what else they’re interested in helps to not only target to the individual, but find others like them. Gender, age, and ethnicity is the broad categories and helps with messaging, but now we’re getting into the specifics!

The Specifics

Again, we’re able to dive into Facebook for this data, using the exact same terms used for the monthly reports. The only difference is this data is for those 18 and up, while our monthly demographic report is 13 and up. Facebook data is enhanced using available data warehouses giving us a better idea as to who these people are.

And now, the data!

Age and Gender

Without the men, this data isn’t quite as useful, but we can see almost half of the fans are under the age of 35.

Lifestyle

Surprisingly, women are very close to the general Facebook population. For none of the lifestyle categories do women really stand out.

Relationship Status and Education Level

The general comic fan population were more likely to be single or “in a relationship” compared to the Facebook populace. Women on the other hand are less likely to be single, and more likely to be married. When it comes to education, they’re more likely to be in grad school when the general comic populace is very much less likely.

Job Title

For the general comic populace, the healthcare industry was a tthe bottom. When it comes to women, those professions are at the top along with administrative positions. It’s almost the exact opposite of the general comic fandom on Facebook.

Page Likes

When it comes to the types of pages female comic fans on Facebook like, it’s health, beauty, clothing, and accessories that are at the top spot. For the general comic fandom, Manga, and a comic blog sit at the top of the list. In this list, the most “comic” related category is in Product/Service where Hello Kitty is listed.

Marvel has been heading to The View to promote comics, but they might do better to target the viewers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Also, putting comics in a big box store like Target might be worth it too. IDW has done so with their Micro-Fun Pack line, and found success.

Location

Comic fans are located in big cities according to this and women aren’t an exception. The top spots are flipped though.

Interestingly though, comic fans also over represent in smaller cities and towns. The cities are very different though compared to the general comic population. Having worked a comic shop in Buffalo, I can vouch for that.

They’re also underrepresented in larger cities. But, it’s a very different set of large cities. Bellevue, Washington has the distinction for being at the bottom for women and the general comic populace.

Frequency of Activity

Female comic fans also like more pages than the general comic populace, but it’s half as many. Female comic fans are even more likely to like posts or click ads compared to the general comic fandom.

Devices

Women interestingly really stand out as iPad users, though are pretty much in-line with the general Facebook populace for the rest of the devices used.

Household

Female comic fans seem to make a bit more than the general Facebook population, but are slightly more likely to rent their home.

Spending Methods

Female comic fans almost line up exactly the same as the general Facebook populace. Where general comic fans are more likely to primarily use cash and less likely to primarily use credit cards, you don’t see that with the women.

Their online purchasing habits are pretty similar to Facebook users, but they’re a little bit more likely to spend money at retail, unlike the general comic Facebook fans who are slightly less likely.

They also are slightly more likely to purchase kids products, household products, and health and beauty products. This should be no surprise based on the pages liked. What it does tell me is that I might run an ad campaign targeting this population which features a comic book where kids are the main audience.

And that wraps up our second look at the affinity and actual interests of our monthly comic fandom! Expect for even more of a dive in and explanation of how one would use this data in the coming weeks and months!

Most importantly, to really build the comic market, we need to understand who the fans and purchasers are. By doing so, we make our job easier. The above is a piece of that puzzle.

Like this:

It’s the first of the month, and first of the year, and that means a new look at the demographics of people who “like” comics on Facebook. This data is compiled using demographic data from Facebook, and is limited to the United States.

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series, because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. This is not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Facebook Population: Over 32,000,000 in the United States

The total population remains steady from the previous month. The Spanish-speaking population last month was 14.38%, and this month is also 13.75%, dipping a bit compared to last month.

Gender and Age

Last month women accounted for 45.64% and men were 53.13%. Even with the population increase, the results this month as far as percent the results are close to last month. Women now account for 41.88% and men account for 56.88%. The female population continues to decrease, this time not just in percent, but also the total population.

We’ll next look at how the percentage of women and men break down through age.

Men gained pretty consistently under the age of 49. Women under the age of 17 continued to be the majority for that age group and gained in population, while women generally decreased in all other age groups.

Relationship Status

Compared to last month, the single population dipped a bit, while there were more people married and engaged people. Congrats!

And for those that like pie charts.

Education

Generally, these stats are similar to last month’s. Changes are primarily due to the shift in gender.

Gender Interest

Compared to last month these stats are very similar. Changes are primarily due to the shift in gender.

Ethnicity

It’s the fourth month we’ve had data on ethnicity. Facebook compiles the data based on “behavior that aligns with people of that race.” It’s unknown the specifics of what that entails.

This is the second month to include Asian Americans in this stat. The population is small, but expect it to grow as the months go forward.

African Americans account for 3.8 million, about 11.88% of the comic fandom, while all Hispanics account for 7.4 million, around 23.13%. Asian Americans account for 840,000 individuals, around 6.27%.

I’ve presented the data in raw form for this first report, but will do graphs as this data progresses.

Generation

We’ve been tracking what generation individuals are a part of. We present that information for the first time below.

And that wraps up this month’s report! Join us Monday for even more information!

Like this:

For Black History Month we’ve been taking a look at characters, series, and creators, but I thought it also might be nice to also look at some of the demographic data that exists. The first thing I wanted to see was if African-American comic fans varied as to what publisher they liked.

For this demographic report I again dove into Facebook using the data provided as per usual. In February, African-Americans accounted for 3.4 million of the 32 million “comic fans,” making them 10.63% of the population. In general on Facebook, African-Americans make up 11.24% of the Facebook population.

I decided to look at not just publishers, but “comics” and “manga” as well to see what the percentage of African-Americans like them as well as how it breaks down as far as men and women.

In general for all of the terms below African-Americans account for 10.83% of that population. Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse, Dynamite, and in general comics underperform that percentage. Image, IDW, BOOM!, Oni, and Manga outperform. BOOM! and Oni especially do well having the top two percentages.

When it comes to percentage, men and women are the closest for Image, Comics and Manga. The biggest difference between men and women is Dark Horse.

This is just the first report! I’ve got two more Mondays to dive even deeper into the information.

Like this:

The first day of each month (and a lot of Mondays) I break down the demographic data of those who “like” comics on Facebook. With about 32 million people this past month, the data represents those with an interest in comics (over 100 terms made up of publishers, generic terms like “comics,” and comic specific terms like “one-shot”). These are not necessarily purchasers or subscribers, they’d be a subset of this group, these are folks who are interested in comics, graphic novels, trade paperbacks, or publishers. That 32 million is the first audience we as a community should be reaching out to to push comics forward. They are the most likely to be interested in comics, and become regular readers and customers.

But, any good marketer knows, that demographic data is just one small portion of who a “customer” is. To truly get the whole picture of who these individuals are, and get even better bang for the buck, you also need to understand their interests and habits.

With the call to “push comics forward,” I am happy to present for the first time these habits and affinity, and explain why this is important.

Why is this important?

Someone’s age, gender, or ethnicity is just a small part of the equation when figuring out who to market to or what to market. A person’s history of purchases in this case, or what else they’re interested in helps to not only target to the individual, but find others like them. Gender, age, and ethnicity is the broad categories and helps with messaging, but now we’re getting into the specifics!

The Specifics

Again, we’re able to dive into Facebook for this data, using the exact same terms used for the monthly reports. The only difference is this data is for those 18 and up, while our monthly demographic report is 13 and up. Facebook data is enhanced using available data warehouses giving us a better idea as to who these people are.

And now, the data!

Age and Gender

We can see the similar breakdown of percentages as I’ve been presenting for some time now. We get to see how that compares though to the Facebook population as a whole.

Lifestyle

This is everyone’s interest data based on their actual purchase behavior, brand affinity, and other activities. Interestingly enough, comic fans are much greater than the general Facebook population in having children early in life. They tend to be renters, and still in school. On the flip side those in their mid-20s without children and owning their own home are also over represented by comic fans as well as similar folks with children.

Not surprisingly, the wealthy and “elite,” established, and elderly are under represented in the population.

Younger individuals with and without children are the bread and butter of the comic fandom in other words.

Relationship Status and Education Level

Compared to the general Facebook populace, comic fans are much more likely to be “single,” “in a relationship,” or “engaged.” They are much less likely to be “married.” As far as education, they are slightly more likely to be college educated. Take the above and we’re looking for younger college educated individuals.

Job Title

This is rather interesting. Based on likely industries from self-reported data, we have groups of what types of jobs comic fans have. It’s not surprising that with a younger set of individuals, the positions are less established with folks more likely temporary and seasonal, retail, food preparation, service industry positions.

They are much less likely lawyers, in the medical field, in computing or mathematics or in the science industry. Most of those involve longer career commitments, so comic fans might not be there yet. Remember, they’re mostly young and in college.

Page Likes

When it comes to what pages comic fans like, most shouldn’t be a surprise. We see lots fo video games, Marvel, DC Comics, comic characters, and Stan Lee. What’s also interesting is we see Loot Crate (showing a nice overlap and business decision to include comics in the service) and some fascinating bands.

But how do those page interests compare to the rest of Facebook? We have that below! If I wanted to build a brand, I’d look at these pages first when targeting ads (along with the previous data mentioned). So far we have men, who are in college, in service jobs, and like Iron Man.

Location

Comic fans are located in big cities according to this.

Interestingly though, comic fans also over represent in smaller cities and towns.

They’re also underrepresented in larger cities.

Frequency of Activity

Comic fans are also rather active on Facebook, liking commenting, sharing, likely, and clicking ads more than the average Facebook user.

Devices

Comic fans use a mix of mobile and desktop to access Facebook and are more prone to using Android devices… Yet we see iOs devices launched first for digital comic apps…

Household

Comic fans tend to live alone or in larger households and rent.

Spending Methods

Comic fans also primarily use cash, which makes sense since younger individuals might not have credit built up. They also spend much less on “travel & entertainment,” and “premium” things compared to the general Facebook users.

Individuals also are pretty average in their spending, while more likely to spend online or not spend online at all. They are also much less likely to be on the low end of online spending. Good news for digital comics!

What’s really interesting is the comic audience’s purchase behavior is lower for every category compared to the general Facebook population. Since they are generally even in spending compared to the audience, we can assume they’re buying something else…. comics maybe?

And that wraps up our first look at the affinity and actual interests of our monthly comic fandom! Expect for even more of a dive in and explanation of how one would use this data in the coming weeks and months!

Most importantly, to really build the comic market, we need to understand who the fans and purchasers are. By doing so, we make our job easier. The above is a piece of that puzzle.

Like this:

It’s the first of the month, and first of the year, and that means a new look at the demographics of people who “like” comics on Facebook. This data is compiled using demographic data from Facebook, and is limited to the United States.

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series, because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. This is not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest. This Monday we’ll have a new portion of this monthly report.

Facebook Population: Over 32,000,000 in the United States

The total population remains steady from the previous month. The Spanish-speaking population last month was 14.38%, and this month is also 14.38%, remaining unchanged..

Gender and Age

Last month women accounted for 48.13% and men were 50.63%. Even with the population increase, the results this month as far as percent the results are close to last month. Women now account for 45.63% and men account for 53.13%. The decrease in women when it comes to the percentage was gained by men.

We’ll next look at how the percentage of women and men break down through age.

Compared to last month, the loss for women was pretty across the board. Women under the age of 17 gained a bit while those 18 and over dropped in population.

Relationship Status

Compared to last month, the single population dipped a bit, while there were more people engaged. Congrats!

And for those that like pie charts.

Education

Generally, these stats are similar to last month’s. Changes are primarily due to the shift in gender.

Gender Interest

Compared to last month these stats are very similar. Changes are primarily due to the shift in gender.

Ethnicity

It’s the third month we’ve had data on ethnicity. Facebook compiles the data based on “behavior that aligns with people of that race.” It’s unknown the specifics of what that entails.

New this month is the inclusion of Asian Americans in this stat. The population is small, but expect it to grow as the months go forward.

African Americans account for 3.4 million, about 10.63% of the comic fandom, while all Hispanics account for 7.4 million, around 23.13%. Asian Americans account for 820,000 individuals, around 5.62%.

I’ve presented the data in raw form for this first report, but will do graphs as this data progresses.

Generation

We’ve been tracking what generation individuals are a part of. We present that information for the first time below.

And that wraps up this month’s report! Join us Monday for even more information!

Like this:

Diamond has released the stats for December for comics, graphic novels, toys, and games including the top 50 comics and graphic novels sold. In a rare result, Marvel held the top retail market share (how many dollars was sold), while DC held the top unit market share (how many comics).

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

RETAIL MARKET SHARE

PUBLISHER

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

32.07%

DC COMICS

31.76%

IMAGE COMICS

9.89%

IDW PUBLISHING

6.10%

DARK HORSE COMICS

3.47%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.66%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.58%

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD

1.22%

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS

0.88%

AVATAR PRESS INC

0.86%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

8.50%

UNIT MARKET SHARE

PUBLISHER

SHARE

DC COMICS

36.17%

MARVEL COMICS

34.10%

IMAGE COMICS

10.40%

IDW PUBLISHING

4.17%

DARK HORSE COMICS

2.95%

BOOM! STUDIOS

2.82%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.26%

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC

0.91%

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS

0.91%

TITAN

0.87%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

4.43%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

DECEMBER 2014 VS. NOVEMBER 2014

COMICS

1.77%

0.31%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-18.50%

-21.51%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-5.14%

-1.64%

DECEMBER 2014 VS. DECEMBER 2013

COMICS

6.67%

4.50%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-5.41%

-8.39%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

2.83%

3.46%

CALENDAR YEAR 2014 VS. CALENDAR YEAR 2013

COMICS

4.03%

0.25%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

5.18%

5.28%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

4.39%

0.64%

FOURTH QUARTER 2014 VS. THIRD QUARTER 2014

COMICS

-2.90%

-1.57%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

6.31%

4.02%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-0.20%

-1.16%

FOURTH QUARTER 2014 VS. FOURTH QUARTER 2013

COMICS

7.89%

7.05%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

7.56%

6.13%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

7.78%

6.98%

SECOND-HALF 2014 VS. FIRST-HALF 2014

COMICS

19.34%

18.58%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

10.54%

4.26%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

16.53%

17.36%

Folks were really into Snyder and Capullo’s “Endgame” driving Batman #37 to the top spot. Surprisingly to me, Marvel’s high-profile S.H.I.E.L.D. first issue came in third.

Like this:

Previews has released a list of the top 100 graphic novels of 2014. Image Comics dominated the list, holding 9 of the top 10 slots. DC Comics had one in the top ten with Batman Vol. 1 at #9.

Marvel‘s best was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 which was #11, Dark Horse Comics‘ Avatar: The Last Airbender Volume 7: Rift, Part 1 was #41, and IDW Publishing‘s best was Locke & Key Volume 6: Alpha & Omega at #73.

Like this:

Previewshas listed the top 50 toys sold to specialty retailers in 2014. It’s a very mixed list as to the type of toys listed, by DC Comic properties dominate the top ten list. DC as a company have 6 of the top 10 items.

Like this:

Previews has compiled a list of the top 100 comics sold to direct markets. The list, which you can read below, is dominated by Marvel, who have 9 of the top 10 spots. The Walking Dead #132 comes in at an impressive second, but DC Comics doesn’t see a book make the list until slot 14 with Batman #32.

Dark Horse‘s Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #1 was that publisher’s best-selling comic book at #137. Transformers Vs. G.I. Joe#1 from IDW Publishing was the publisher’s top book in 2014 at #965.

Like this:

It’s the first of the month, and first of the year, and that means a new look at the demographics of people who “like” comics on Facebook. This data is compiled using demographic data from Facebook, and is limited to the United States.

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series, because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

Facebook Population: Over 32,000,000 in the United States

The total population increased by 4 million. This is likely due to the massive jump in Marvel’s page due to their consolidating various pages into one. The Spanish-speaking population last month was 15%, and this month is 14.38%.

Gender and Age

Last month women accounted for 47.14% and men were 53.57%. Even with the population increase, the results this month as far as percent the results are close to last month. Women now account for 48.13% and men account for 50.63%.

We’ll next look at how the percentage of women and men break down through age.

Compared to last month, the gains were generally across ages. Percentage wise, those 33 and under dipped, while over increased. Also of note, women age 17 and under are the majority.

Relationship Status

Compared to last month, the results are almost exactly the same. Even with the vast increase, percentages haven’t shifted all that much.

And for those that like pie charts.

Education

Generally, these stats are similar to last month’s.

Gender Interest

Compared to last month these stats are very similar.

Ethnicity

It’s the second month we’ve had data on ethnicity. Facebook compiles the data based on “behavior that aligns with people of that race.” It’s unknown the specifics of what that entails.

African Americans account for 3.4 million, about 10.63% of the comic fandom, while all Hispanics account for 7.4 million, around 23.13%.

I’ve presented the data in raw form for this first report, but will do graphs as this data progresses.

And that wraps up this month’s report. Later today we’ll explore this data as its evolved over the year.

Graphic Policy believes in journalistic integrity and transparency. We will disclose when a product has been given for free for review and/or when no cost has been incurred to the staff so that you may be able to make a fully informed decision as to the opinions provided.

When a product has been provided for free you will see disclosure at the bottom of the article. When such a disclosure does not exist, you can assume that the items have been purchased for review.